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OSSINING, N.Y.  Town Judge John Fried told a small crowd of veterans, elected officials and residents at Nelson Park on Friday morning that he had once asked his father, a veteran, if he was disheartened because people who hadn't served in the military didn't seem to appreciate those who had.

"My father said no," said Fried. "Because when people applaud at the conclusion of the national anthem at ball games that says 'O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave,'" he said those applauses are really for me and the other veterans."

Standing behind a podium on a cold morning, Fried, who served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1968 to 1976, honored all those who had served for the country in military details from the Revolutionary War to the operations in Afghanistan. was

"I think, though it was a simple ceremony, it was a moving ceremony," said Stephen Smalley, a Vietnam War veteran who once flew helicopters for the Marine Corps. "It is imperative that we remember those who have served this country faithfully. I just wish more people would step forward to support our ideals."

Pat Bushell, an employee with the Village Parks and Recreation department, said Veterans Day is an important day that should be celebrated.

"If it weren't for those people, it could be a different world," he said.